Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-04-28
IT DOES NOT SUIT AT ALL.
A Suspension of the New Long and
Short Haul Law Demanded by
Both East and West.
Arguments Presented by Railroad At
torneys Before the Interstate
Commission.

gram to-day from G. M. WICKER, repre-
senting the board of trade and merchants
of Chicago, announcing wish to be
heard upon the traascontinental question
and asking that the decision of the COM
mission be withheld until arguments can
be Submitted. owe are" the telegram
says, Sin favor of a conditional suspen-
sion of long and short haul clause on
Pacific coast traffic, provided rates from
the great lakes and the Mississippi valley
be made proportionateIy less than from
the Atlantic seaboard, as has been the
case in the past. We would also pray
that you exercise the power given you In
section 4, of prescribing the extent to
which the carriers may be relieved so as
to protect the intermediate territory now
excluded from direct commercial rela-
tons with the east by ruling that the in
termediate rates shall in no case be more
than SO per cent. higher than the through
rate"
The following telegram from San Fran
cisco was. also received by the commission:
"Defer action on section 4 until receipt of
memorial from chamber of commerce
and leading merchants and manufactures
of this city mailed you to-day. In them
will be found potent arguments against
supervision" This is signed by w. T..
Garrett, president of Manufacturers as
ISOLATION of California and seven firms
forming committee of merchants and
manufacturers of California
w. L.. Merry, president of the chamber
of commerce of San Francisco, tele-
graphs series of resolutions adopted by
that body, favoring "the exception of
such industries and special cases as abso-
lutely require rapid transit" from the
operation of section f.
SOUTHERN PACIFIC.
Charles HI. t weed of New York, address
sed the commission in behalf of the
prayer of the Southern Pacific railroad
for a suspension of the forth section of
the law in its behalf. He presented a
formal pertition which sets forth that the
Southern Pacific is ia com petition for
tee transportation of through passengers
aid freight with the Canadian Pacific,
the Pacific Mail Steamship company,
clippers end tramp steamers, and that
the business is done under Substantially
dissimilar condition from those under
which local transportation is conducted.
The petitioner and other transcontinen-
tai companies have caused to be pre-
pared two tariffs for transcontin entail
business, one based upon the assumption
that the fourth section of the Interstate
commerce act does. and the other that it
does not apply to eases In which compel
ing agencies enter and which are not ans
werable to the Interstate commerce lew.
In case the petitioner adhered to the first
named schedule the result would be the
loss of the whole or the greater part of the
through business
The effect of putting this schedule in
operation has been to reduce the through
business by at least 80 per cent, and the
amount now being done is |ery incon-
siderable. On the other hand, if the
rates for intermediate local traffic should
be REDUCED to rates not greater than
those requisite to enable the petitioner
to do any considerable part of the
through business the whole earnings of
the roads operated by the petitioner
would be inadequate to the payment of
their fixed charges. While the petitioner
believes that the circumstances and con-
ditions governing the through business
are substantially dissimilar from those
related to the local traffic, still the penal
ties prescribed ace SO stringent and sew
ere that the petitioner has felt authorized
without the assent of the commission to
put in force such tariffs as are requisite
TO the retention of any considerable por-
ton of the through traffic, and it there
sion IL that behalf and prays authority to
charge less for longer than for shorter
distances of transportation of passengers
and property.
LOST ITS TRAFFIC.
A. t. Britton, attorney Of the Atekisen,
Topeka 81 Santa Fe railroad, read a petit
ton setting forth that the road and it's
connections were engaged in traRscOn-
tlnental traffic. In an honest endeavor
to comply with the law it had put in op-
Grafton new schedules, which, while they
increased the through rates, largely re-
duced the rates to intermediate points.
The average reductions were from to SO
per cent. according to the class of freight
carried. While this had not resulted in
increasing the way traffic it had entirely
destroyed the through traffic. For two
weeks the road had not received any
through west-bound freight and only
such east-bound as imperatively required
Immediate transmission. To illustrate,
the company formerly hauled on an av-
erage 100 cars of oil, but now contracts
we're being made for this traffic by sea
covering the entire coming year. The
prayer of the petition was similar to that
of the Southern Pacific.
Gen. VIM. W. Belknap, representing
the st. Louis 81 San Francisco road, pre-
sented petition setting forth the cir
cumstances influencing that company's
through traffic, and asked that the fourth
section Of the act be suspended. James
Goddard, assistant general manger of the
Atchison, Topeka Santa Fe road, was
sworn, and inrepiy to inquiries by coun-
sell substantiated under cath the matters
set forth in the petition mentioned above.
He was Informed that since the. new rates
went into effect the steamships had rails
ed their 1ates materially. keeping just
enough below those of the railroads to
take the trade. The company asked to
be placed In the position where il could
meet the competition of the clippers
without further reference to the com
mission. Witness said his road trans
ported large 9 quantities OF fresh fruits
from the Pacific coast to the East. No
relief was asked in respect to this traffic
since the rates IN this regard had been
advanced. The complaints had come